Police: Mother ditches infant to hide from officer

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - About 3:45 Tuesday afternoon, Kentucky State Police say a driver flagged them down along US 460, warning that Sarah Palmer had been driving erratically. The trooper went after her car.

"When he caught up with Ms. Palmer, she had turned in to the Dollar General store, which is there in Jeffersonville and as he was pulling in to the store, ms Palmer jumped out of the vehicle and went into the store real quick," said Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Joe Veeneman.

Once inside, police say Palmer ran into trouble.

"Once she went inside the store, she was asked by the manager to leave because of a previous incident that had occurred there. According to the manager, he was saying she'd been there before and had shoplifted there at the store and that's why he was asking that she not be there," said Veeneman.

At that point, police say the trooper got there and found Palmer to be under the influence and discovered her infant son still inside the car.

"Obviously if Trooper Kirkland wasn't there at that time, there's no telling how long the child could have been unattended," said Veeneman.

Palmer is now at the Montgomery County Jail charged with DUI, endangering the welfare of a minor, and other traffic violations.

Police say the baby was unharmed and was properly restrained in the car. He was released to his father.

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